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To: jde1953
If you truly believe that marriage is a sacred institution, and are using "sacred" in the sense of religious (rather than just "worthy of respect") then it follows that:

a) the government should not issue marriage licenses--that is unwarranted meddling in religion.

That is a logical conclusion. It's fair for the state to require registration after the fact, for legal record-keeping, tax purposes, etc., but it's wrong for the government to pretend to be God and grant or withhold permission by "licensing" marriages. No license is required to start a newspaper or print a book; surely marriage is at least as fundamental a human right.

b) any "marriage" performed at the county courthouse without benefit of clergy is null and void.

Only if the religion claims exclusive right to preside over the ceremony. That's certainly not the case of Christianity (the Bible records several marriages performed without clergy: e.g. Issac's marriage to Rebecca (Gen. 24:67), some Christians' mistaken views to the contrary notwithstanding.

c) there should be no such thing as legal marriage between two atheists.

Again, only if the religion claims such; which Christianity does not. The only restrictions of this sort that the Bible places on marriage is that Christians may not marry outside the faith.

d) there should be no such thing as legal marriage, period, since it is a matter of religion rather than secular law.

Again, only if the particular religion says the state has no right to recognize marriage legally, and there's nothing like that in the Bible. The state may, and should, add its recognition of marriage to the biblical one, but it may not legitimately supplant it, e.g., by requiring licenses.

153 posted on 11/18/2003 5:44:53 PM PST by Stop Legal Plunder
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To: Stop Legal Plunder
The state has the right to protect marriage which, after all, involves the joining of estates and concerns the rearing of children. The marriagce license is intended to certifying that each party is free to marry, that no other person has claim to either party.
158 posted on 11/18/2003 5:48:40 PM PST by RobbyS (XP)
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